India has welcomed Congo to International Solar Alliance. Ambassador of Republic of Congo, Raymond Serge Bale signed the International Solar Alliance Framework Agreement in the presence of Joint Secretary (Economic Diplomacy).

About ISA

• The ISA was conceived as a joint effort by India and France to mobilize efforts against climate change through deployment of solar energy solutions.
• It was conceptualized on the side-lines of the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held in Paris in 2015.
• Vision : Let us together make the sun brighter.
• Mission: Every home no matter how far away, will have a light at home
• The Headquarters is in India with its Interim Secretariat being set up in Gurugram.
• A total of 107 countries have signed the ISA Framework Agreement.
• Out of 107 nations, 86 have signed and ratified the ISA Framework Agreement.

Significance

• One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG): The OSOWOG focuses on a framework for facilitating global cooperation, building a global ecosystem of interconnected renewable energy resources (mainly solar energy) that can be seamlessly shared.
• The vision behind the OSOWOG is ‘The Sun Never Sets’ and is a constant at some geographical location, globally, at any given point of time.
• It has been taken up under the technical assistance program of the World Bank.